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Video games in Japan
Japan is a country in Asia. This article is about video games in Japan. History 1970's–early 1980's market Red - Domestic Japanese retail market, including the console, handheld and computer sectors (hardware and software) Purple - Domestic Japanese mobile game market Green - Total domestic Japanese video game market, including all sectors Cyan - Japanese retail exports (hardware and software) to overseas markets (console, handheld and computer sectors) Orange - Overall Japanese video game industry, including both domestic Japanese market and overseas retail exports ]] Prior to producing video games, Japanese companies like Sega, Taito, Namco and Nintendo were producers of electro-mechanical arcade games. Soon after the video game industry began in the early 1970s, many of these companies turned their attention to producing arcade video games. Japan eventually became a major exporter of video games during the golden age of arcade video games, an era that began with the release of Taito's Space Invaders in 1978 and ended around the mid-1980s. Mid-1980's–mid-2000's Following the North American video game crash of 1983, Japan went on become the most dominant country within the global video game industry, since the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System and the third-generation of consoles. Japan's dominance within the industry would continue for the next two decades, up until Microsoft's Xbox consoles began challenging Sony and Nintendo in the 2000s. In the early 2000s, mobile games had gained mainstream popularity in Japan, years before the United States and Europe. By 2003, a wide variety of mobile games were available on Japanese phones, ranging from puzzle games and virtual pet titles that utilize camera phone technology to 3D games with PlayStation-quality graphics. Older arcade-style games became particularly popular on mobile phones, which were an ideal platform for arcade-style games designed for shorter play sessions. By 2003, Japan had 8.3 million mobile gamers. That same year, 77.8% of Japan’s general public (and 69.2% of women) owned a games machine in their home. http://www.cs.lamar.edu/faculty/osborne/COSC1172/elspawhitepaper3.pdf Late 2000's–early 2010's Although Japanese video games often sell well in Western markets, the reverse is not so in Japan. Foreign games often sell more poorly in Japanese markets due to differences in escapism. However, as detailed below, Japanese games have been becoming much less successful in recent years even in their own country. In 2002, the Japanese video game industry made up about 50% of the global retail game market; that share has since shrunk to around 10% by 2010. The shrinkage in retail game market share has been attributed to a growing difference of taste between Japanese and Western audiences, and the country's economic recession. Despite declining home console game sales, the overall Japanese gaming industry, as of 2009, is still valued at $20 billion, the largest sector of which are arcade games, which generated more revenue than console games and mobile games combined. The Japanese arcade industry has also been steadily declining, however. The domestic arcade market's decline has also been attributed to the country's economic recession. In recent years, Japanese companies have been criticized for long development times and slow release dates on home video game consoles, their relative lack of third-party game engines, and for being relatively insular to appeal to a global market. Yoichi Wada stated in the Financial Times on April 27, 2009 the Japanese gaming industry of having become a "closed environment" and "almost xenophobic." He also stated: "The lag with the US is very clear. The US games industry was not good in the past but it has now attracted people from the computer [industry] and from Hollywood, which has led to strong growth." Japanese video game industry revenues for worldwide figures and Video games in the United States for US figures Domestic Japanese market Overseas retail exports Overall Japanese industry (domestic market & overseas retail) See also *Japan *Role-playing game *Video games developed in Japan References }} category:Video games by location